Activision: Love "signed" Cobain deal

Activision has countered lawsuit threats made by Kurt Cobain's widow Courtney Love over Guitar Hero 5 by holding up a piece of paper with her signature on it.

"Guitar Hero secured the necessary licensing rights from the Cobain estate in a written agreement signed by Courtney Love to use Kurt Cobain's likeness as a fully playable character in Guitar Hero 5," Activision triumphantly told Kotaku.

Love threatened to "sue the s***" out of the GH5 publisher for allowing Kurt Cobain's character to be unlocked and played in combination with any song.

She's not alone in feeling the dead singer's memory has been diminished by this act, as surviving Nirvana band members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl issue a concerned joint statement.

"We want people to know that we are dismayed and very disappointed in the way a facsimile of Kurt is used in the Guitar Hero game," they said. "We urge Activision to do the right thing in 're-locking' Kurt's character so that this won't continue in the future.

"It's hard to watch an image of Kurt pantomiming other artists' music alongside cartoon characters. Kurt Cobain wrote songs that hold a lot of meaning to people all over the world. We feel he deserves better."